


beach partie!!

by mikey_distortion



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Affirmation, Body Dysphoria, Dangerous Binding, Drowning, Fluff, Found Family, Gen, Gender Dysphoria, trans female nya, trans male cole, trans male jay, unsafe binding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-17 10:14:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29470032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikey_distortion/pseuds/mikey_distortion
Summary: Jay has to swim with the other ninja and is deathly afraid they'll find out he's trans
Relationships: Jay/Nya
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17





	beach partie!!

**Author's Note:**

> takes place s2 ep11 when they’re on the beach relaxing, not canon. I saw Jay wearing the swimshirt and it went perfectly with my headcanon that he’s tranz !! I also headcanon Nya and Cole as tranz so I adjusted accordingly :)) Nya’s not with them/ they don’t swim in the episode, but I thought this would be fun!! They’re all different kinds of clueless and i thought it’d be super funny if they’d been living together for ages and never knew that like half of them were NOT cis

Jay takes a deep breath in the mirror, rattling and dry. _It's just one time. They'll never know_. He'd tried to make excuses, talked about how cold the water was, how he didn't want to get sunburned right before the final battle, yada-yada; but they'd just brushed it aside. _It's just one time._ Plus, Nya was getting in, which both excited him and itched at his nerves even more. A rush of cold fear makes its way through him. _What if she finds out? You're really in hot water now, idiot._ He shakes his head, turning on the faucet and splashing the cool water on his face. _It's just one time._ Jay steps away from the mirror, carefully sliding on his binder before covering up with a swim shirt. He's not planning to get totally wet, and it'll just be for a few minutes. It'll be fine. _It's not gonna be fine._ "Shut up," he mutters to his jittery thoughts. It'll just be this once.

Jay jumps at a sudden knock on the door. "Jay?" comes Nya's gentle call, shooting adrenaline into his system. "Are you almost ready? We're getting in soon." He manages to stutter out a yes, takes one final look in the mirror, and slides the door to the bathroom open. 

Nya smiles up at him, taking his hand in hers. "Let's go then, shall we?" He lets out a nervous laugh, and he's sure that he's as red as her swimsuit as he nods. _She knows. She knows. She kn- Shut up. Shut up. Shut- ._ Jay's panic is cut off by the blinding sun from outside, blaring down on his skin as he walks outside. Kai and Cole are in the ocean already, quipping about something and splashing the hell out of one another. Zane stands on the shore, watching with amusement. They turn as he walks out, hand in hand with Nya, and loud and enthusiastic greetings pour out.  
"Jay! Get in here and settle this, please," Cole shouts, waving his hands frantically before being silenced by a spray of salt water from Kai. Jay laughs, a nervous edge creeping into his voice, but he pushes it down.  
"I dunno, is this something I want to get involved with?" He jokes, turning to Zane in a questioning manner. Zane chuckles.  
"Most certainly not! Chances of survival drop significantly if you happen to get in-between those two."  
Kai's eye roll is visible from shore. "Whatever, just get in, man!"  
Jay lets out an exaggerated sigh, making his way to the water. "Looks like I won't be living much longer then, Zane!" They all laugh, and for a moment Jay feels like he's comfortable in his skin. For a moment.

_Get in that water and they'll find out._ He tries to shake the sinking feeling away as he inches closer. _Another step and you'll lose their trust. They'll know. You know they'll know._ Jay takes a deep breath in, and forces one foot into the water. _Now the other. You can do it._ Step by step, he makes his way in until he's up to his waist, next to Cole and Kai, still kicking and spraying the ocean at each other. _You did it. You're okay. You're okay._ He settles, finally feeling comfortable again. Jay stays a safe distance out of the splash zone, snickering at them. But it doesn't take long before his eyes wander down to Kai's bare torso, sculpted muscle and lean ribs stretching as he reaches towards Cole; whose soaked swim shirt clings to his abs, defining his clear-cut shape. The itching discomfort creeps back in.

Jay takes a quick glance down at his own body, still half-dry and hidden under his baggy swim top. He’s just as strong as them, sure, and he can’t say he doesn’t have a nicely built physique. But he knows it’s not the same. It doesn’t feel the same. _You'll never look like them, Jay. It's going to be like this until the day you're in the ground._ He shakes his head in a small, aggressive jerk, clearing his mind. The binder around his body becomes achingly obvious to his anxious ribs. The panic begins to set in, and his mind retracts as his thoughts race. Jumbled static full of fear clouds his head, louder and louder and _louder_ and- 

Jay's feet are swept from beneath him by the water in an alarming movement, suddenly aggressive and grabbing. He goes under, swirling under the roiling tide. His arms flail, straining to resurface. His legs lash out and meet nothing but the roaring water. He takes a desperate breath full of the brine, and he feels the edges of his vision fade as he is sucked under. The undulating waves claw and toss and bite and he can only shut his eyes and try not to swallow the water forcing itself into his nose, his eyes, his mouth. _I'm going to die. I'm going to die like this._ He squeezes his eyes shut, stinging and full of sandy grit, and waits for his lungs to betray him.  
Then, without warning, Jay can feel hands grabbing his shoulders, pulling him back into the world. There is hot sand on his back, hard and damp. His chest heaves, struggling for air as the sun blazes down on him. He can hear snatches of talking around him. _“Rip current… barely breathing… dead? …”_ Another half-cough wracks his lungs, and he feels water burning his throat. The hands roughly remove his swim shirt before hesitating slightly. Then, his binder is gently removed, almost with reverence. The hands cross over his chest, and begin to press in a steady and consistent pattern, and every once and awhile a mouth meets his. Slowly but surely, Jay’s mind wakes up, before he sits up sharply and hurls a fountain of salty water into the sand. Gasping for air, he scrabbles for his swim shirt, pressing it up against his chest as he spits grit out of his mouth.  
When he’s finally recovered enough to turn around, he’s greeted by the silent and stunned faces of his friends. Kai and Cole, still dripping from the water, stand over him, eyes wide and confused. Zane, bent next to him in the sand, and Nya, kneeling over him, both share the same expression of concern and puzzlement.  
“Are you okay, Jay?” Nya gasps, handing him a towel. “You really had us worried there.” He nods slowly, waiting for someone to say something about the elephant in the room- or beach, rather. Cole steps forward and kneels down close to him, shaking his head.  
“That could’ve been really bad, Jay. If you can’t bind safely you shouldn’t, man,” he says in a comforting voice, surprising Jay. “I get- I understand why you wouldn’t want to tell us. But we’re your brothers, dude. We love you no matter what.”  
Kai gets on the sand too, closer to Jay. “I’m sorry we pushed you to do something you didn’t wanna do. We’d just never been swimming together before and we thought it’d be fun, but we should’ve listened to you, Jay.”  
Jay sits in confused silence for a minute, processing what they’re saying. “So you’re- you’re not mad that I’m-” he stutters, and gestures to the towel he still cradles to his chest. “-that I’m not like you guys?” He’s startled by a loud guffaw from Cole.  
“Are you kidding, man? I know I always have a shirt on but I thought you’d’ve noticed by now.” He rolls off his black top to reveal two light, slightly-raised scars under his pecs. Jay’s eyes widen, a relieved look creeping onto his face. Kai laughs too, almost in disbelief. It’s also news to Zane, apparent by his bemused face.  
“How did none of us know about this? We can’t be that stupid!” Kai chuckles. Cole nods in amused agreement.  
Nya rolls her eyes a little in a sarcastic motion. “It’s not just a boy’s club, y’know,” She smiles as Jay, Cole, and Zane turn to her in apparent surprise. Cole looks over his shoulder at Kai.  
“What, like I was gonna tell you guys?” he quips. 

They all laugh, and Jay feels at home again, surrounded by his family and loved; sun kissing his face and warming his heart.


End file.
